Frame Relay Status and Configuration

5-12 Frame Relay Backup Groups

3. Click on to create a new entry, or on to edit the entry
currently selected in the list box.
Applying Port-level Changes
After you have made any port-level conÞguration changes, your changes will not
take effect until you have done an on-line update. To do so:
1. Click mouse button 3 on the port you have been configuring to display the Port
Menu.
2. Drag down to On-line Update and release.
Frame Relay Backup Groups
Frame Relay Backup Groups provide frame relay DLCIs with automatic backup
protection should a DLCI fail. DLCIs are conÞgured as either ÒprimaryÓ DLCIs or
ÒbackupÓ DLCIs. This is done either in console management (refer to your FRX or
SmartSwitch 1800 hardware documentation) or in the Frame Relay DLCI Rate
ConÞguration window (see DLCI Rate ConÞguration, page 5-8).
In a backup conÞguration, one end of the link is considered the ÒinitiatingÓ node
and the other is the ÒremoteÓ, or non-initiating, node. The initiating end is the
node that will establish the backup DLCI if it discovers that the primary DLCI is
down. A node can be the initiating node for some backup conÞgurations, and the
remote node for others.
On the initiating node, backup DLCIs are assigned to backup groups. Each group
can contain up to ten backup DLCIs. A backup group is then assigned to one or
more primary DLCI; each DLCI can have just one backup group.
If a node detects a failure in a primary DLCI connection, it will search the backup
group assigned to that primary DLCI, and will select the Þrst available DLCI in
that group as a backup. The backup will become operational and will remain in
that state until the primary becomes active again. If the backup fails while in use,
the node will check the status of the primary, then (if necessary) search the
primaryÕs backup group for another backup.
Before conÞguring Frame Relay Backup Groups, you should Þrst conÞgure all the
primary and backup DLCIs using either console management (refer to your FRX
or SmartSwitch 1800 hardware documentation) or the Frame Relay DLCI Rate
ConÞguration window (see DLCI Rate ConÞguration, page 5-8). All DLCI
NOTE
Any sessions in progress when a primary DLCI goes down will not be transferred directly
to the backup DLCI, but will be reset, then established on the backup.